Do not look directly into the mug without eye protection

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away - Wait. It's in OUR galaxy, but still far, far away - about 20,000 light years. Anyhow, this red supergiant star named V838 Monocerotis (catchy, ain't it?) had what astronomers call an outburst. You, me, when we have outbursts, we yell and rant, we delete cells from stupid spreadsheets, and stomp off to clear our heads. When V838 Monocerotis has a stellar outburst, it turns into one of the brightest stars in the Milky Way.

And then it dims, as it should if it were a nova. And then it brightens again, which is where it loses us. What the heck is going on out there? Or should we say "back then" since we're technically watching the past of our galaxy unfold? Astronomers have lots of theories. We here at ThinkGeek, however, simply have a mug.

Celebrate the weirdness that is the V838 Monocerotis stellar outburst with this heat change mug. When the mug's cold, it displays the red supergiant, and when you fill the mug with glorious coffee, the supergiant is surrounded by the light echo of its stellar outburst. We sorta glow, too, when we have 20 ounces of coffee in us, so we understand.

Product Specifications

This is Not a Supernova Heat Change Mug

A ThinkGeek exclusive

When cold, the black mug features red supergiant V838 Monocerotis at the outer edge of the Milky Way

When filled with warm liquid, the mug features the supergiant with the light echo of its stellar outburst

Warm image of V838 Monocerotis and its light echo recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope on December 17, 2002

At its brightest, V838 Monocerotis was 600,000 times brighter than the sun

(Do not look directly into the mug)

We could have called it the "Monocerotis Heat Change Mug" but doesn't that sound like some sort of disease?

Capacity: 20 oz.

Materials: Ceramic

Care Instructions: Hand wash only. Do not microwave.

Imported

Dimensions: 4" diameter x 4 1/4" tall

Ages 13+

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